The Collector

In the infinite blackness of space, a star shines brightly, illuminating a ship orbiting close to its burning surface. This ship, colored a misty purple, was abnormally long. It's three wings, one sprouting from the top and two attached to either side, stretched almost as long as its main hull. Inside this ship was a slew of crystal-like protrusions jutting out of the walls. At the very front of the ship, there was a seat, upon which a large gemstone resided. It contrasted with the ships interior, which was the same purple hue as the exterior of the vessel. Instead, the decahedron shaped gem was a brilliant clash of all colors, iridescent light flooding out as sunlight past through it.

The ship was still, and silent. Then, without warning, a crackle of energy passed over the gem, and began to glow. Slowly rising in to the air, it began to spin. There was bright flash of white light, and then a large figure stood where the gemstone once was. Its body was mostly the same coloration of the ships coloration. Misty purple hues seemed to move and wiggle along the surface. Bright, geometric lines and shapes were spread across its form, shining with the same multi-colored light as the gemstone, which now resided in the forehead of the being. Its entire body appears to act not as a solid being, but like a viscous liquid given shape.

Its hand swept over one of the crystal protrusions, and a screen began projecting from it, symbols crawling over the screen. The being looked over them for a few moments, before dismissing it with a wave of its hand. Its thoughts had been confirmed, though it didn't know why it even bothered. From the moment of its creation, it had been used to do only one thing.

Collect.

Valuables, to other legendary gems, all were sought after, and obtained. Even after the demise of its maker, the nature of its existence went unchanged. The viscus being still only woke from its trance once there was something unique in the universe. Then, it hunted down its objective, but instead of bringing it to a master, it now just absorbed knowledge and power from the items it obtained, and placed them within its gem-world. Not once has it failed.

As it awoke, it instinctively knew what its new quarry was, a perk that had been given to it to aid in its work. It gave nothing critical, just the name, species, and name of the object of interest. Surprise, a feeling the being had not known for some time, flooded through it. A hybrid. Its new objective was a human-gem hybrid. The being had seen humans before, descending on earth to collect something, and thought them crafty. One needed to be to survive on planet like Earth. Well, it was quite a trip to Earth, and it had been a while since it last used its powers. Perhaps it could communicate with its new quarry, and see how the race has evolved, before storing the hybrid away.

With that thought, the being set coordinates for Earth in to another protrusion and sat down. It began focusing its energy in to its gem, and began reaching across the galaxy towards the hybrids mind.

Yellow Pearl swiftly moved down the hallways of the base, displaying the gems smug confidence in each stride. As she reached her destination, her demeanor changed slightly. Yellow Pearl stood before the door that led to Yellow Diamond, who was known for getting angry every time something went out of her perfectly planned order. However, the Pearl took a moment to collect herself, and thought that this was important enough to warrant an interruption. Gathering her courage, Yellow Pearl opened the door.

There was the great Yellow Diamond. She sat straight-backed on her throne, and was a quickly tapping on the holographic keyboard. As the Pearl walked over, the Diamond paid no mind to her. As Yellow Pearl reached the front of the throne, she cleared her throat.

"My diamond!"

Yellow Diamond finally looked away from her work, gazed down on her Pearl. Annoyance was clear in the stare, so Yellow Pearl decided it would be best to be quick.
"We have gotten reports that Collector has once again been awakened,"
Other than an eye twitch, she kept a neutral face.
"How long ago did these reports come in?"
"They just arrived a few minutes ago, and as soon as I saw what they said, I ran straight to you," Yellow Diamond turned back to her keyboard.
"You are to continue to monitor reports on the Collector, and as soon as something relevant comes up, come to me,"
"As you say, my Diamond," Taking the hint to leave, Yellow Pearl left the room, leaving Yellow Diamond by herself. The great being let an aggravated sigh escape her, and opened the data pad stored in her thrones right arm.
"Great, another variable thrown in to this mess,"
As she logged the events that had just transpired, a thought came to her.

What was the Collector after this time?

As far as Yellow Diamond knew, there had been no new objects of great relevance made since the Collectors last hunt. What was so unique, and yet evaded the great Diamonds gaze? Then it hit her. The hybrid, the only one of its kind in existence. Of course, the Collector would go after him, it was how the ancient gem behaved. Yellow Diamond finished typing in to her personal data pad, and thought about the situation. In many ways, the Collector could turn the point of the battle for Earth, in both bad and good ways. If the Collector succeeded in its mission, the loss of their leader would de-moralize the rest of the rebels, and this whole fiasco would be at an end. However, this could also be a curse. While the Collector was no Diamond, it could cause trouble if something it wanted overlapped the plans of Homeworld. This was proven the last time the Collector was on a hunt, and Yellow Diamond swore to never underestimate the ancient hunter again.

As the mighty Diamond turned back to her work, she made a mental note. The other Diamonds would need to be alerted to the Collectors presence.

The small beach home was still, constant lapping of the waves hitting the beach. It was the scene of perfect tranquility. Then, with a loud noise and a bright beam of light, a bundle of chaos rolled on to the scene. Steven Universe was currently getting a piggy back ride from Amethyst, the purple gem giggling as they kept of the pad, and raced to the kitchen. Pearl ran after them, preparing to give them a lecture of safety. Garnet stood on the pad and witnessed the scene before her, the tall fusion smiling as she did so.

"I'm telling you, I'm not gonna drop him!" Amethyst groaned as Pearl went off on her for her stunt with Steven.

"I you say that, but what happens if you trip? Or Steven loses his grip, and falls off?" The over-protective gem shot back, an eyebrow raised. Amethyst was just about to issue a sarcastic response, when Garnet came up and put a hand on them both.
"Pearl, you need to let loose a little. I understand you care about Steven greatly, but he is growing up. He can handle these things on his own," Amethyst smirked at Pearl, but Garnet wasn't done, "Amethyst, you should be more cautious in the future. I know you like to have fun, but there's a time and a place for that," Now it was Pearls turn to look smug.

Steven let out a loud yawn, which caught the attention of the trio, who glanced at the time.
"Well, it's pretty late. I think that means it's time for bed," Pearl stated, and helped the sleepy boy off the couch and walked upstairs.
"See ya in the morning Ste-Man!" Amethyst hollered before retreating into her room.
"Good night Steven," Garnet said, before also going to her room. As Pearl tucked Steven, she planted a kiss on his head.
"Good night Steven. See you in the morning,"
"G'night Pearl..." The hybrid mumbled quietly. The gem smiled, and then went to her room. Then Steven was alone, nothing disturbing the good night's sleep was about to receive.

Darkness, that's all Steven saw. He appeared to be floating in this abyssal sea. Looking around, he saw nothing. Is... is this a dream? He wondered. Then, a bright light flashed in front of him, and the everything began to glow pink. Steven fracked his eyes open to see what was the source of the blinding flash, and his jaw dropped. Before stood a massive figure, lines and shapes giving off an iridescent light burned against the figures mostly purple body. What drew his attention the most was the creatures eye, or what he assumed was an eye. All the lines led to this brightly glowing object, and it gazed at him with intensity.

Then it spoke.

"So, you are the one they call Steven Universe,"